A salmon farm at Lough Swilly, Co. Donegal, Ireland. The county's aquaculture sector is expanding beyond primary production and developing industry-leading technologies, says seafood development agency BIM. Photo: Mowi Ireland.

Zooming in on Ireland’s aquatech expertise

A one-hour webinar showcasing emerging technologies in Irish aquaculture takes place on Zoom at 1pm tomorrow.

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The event is organised by Ireland’s seafood development agency, Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM) and Hatch, which invests in and mentors early-stage sustainable aquaculture companies.

BIM’s innovation and development manager Richard Donnelly will interview four panellists from the aquatech sector. These are:

  • Ronan Loftus, founder of DNA traceability firm IdentiGEN, which is now part of MSD Animal Health.
  • Ashie Norris, group geneticist responsible for R&D at the genetics division of the world’s biggest salmon farmer, Mowi.
  • Kate Dempsey of Aqualicense, which offers a suite of services which lead clients through the entire aquaculture licensing process.
  • Brian Quinn, chief executive of WellFish Diagnostics, which is actually based in Paisley, Scotland where Quinn, an Irishman, is a professor at the School of Health and Life Sciences at the University of the West of Scotland. Quinn, an exotoxicologist, is working on the re-purposing and translation of human medical diagnostic technologies to assess fish health in aquaculture.

The event will include a panel discussion about the cross-sector skillsets that the BIM says give Ireland’s blue start-ups an edge as they grow their businesses. This cross-fertilisation of ideas and expertise is allowing Ireland’s aquaculture sector to expand beyond primary production and develop industry-leading technologies that could revolutionise the global blue economy.

Register for the webinar here.